Operating means



July 9, 1929. STEBBlNs 1.720.299

OPERATING MEANS Filed May 15, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Julyv9, 1929. s s 11.720.299

OPERATING MEANS Filed May 15, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4? //v l/ENTOR:

MM 11. W B

ATTO NEY Patented July 9, 1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT S'IEBBINS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

OPERATING MEANS.

Application filed May 15,

This invention relates to means for imparting progressive vibratorymovements to frames and other devices supported for vibratory movement.

Various devices such as screens, concentral'or tables and other forms ofseparators employ a progressive vibratory movement in effectingseparation of the materials being treated.

l lccentrics have been extensively used heretofore to develop avibratory movement, but the ordinary eccentric does not produce aprogressive vibratory movement as it will merely move the device beingvibrated back and forth as energetically in one direction as in theother. Various constructions have therefore been proposed. heretofore tomodify the action of an. eccentric to cause the-same to develop aprogressive vibratory movement.

Such devices for developing progressive vibratory movement should be soconstructed that they will not be readily injured by the dirt and dustproduced by the screens or separator beiu g vibrated and should besimple in construction. and strong and durable.

The present invention therefore relates to an extremely simpleconstruction for modifyin g the action of an eccentric to produce thedesired progressive movement, and in carrying out the present inventioncables are associated with a power driven eccentric in such a way thatone cable tensioned the other slacked off to thereby pull the vibratoryframe back and forth, andthe progressive movement is produced by aspring which serves to modify the turn at oneend of the path of travel.

More specifically the present invention re- :sides in operating meansfor developing a progressive vibratory movement and consists of apositively anchored cable for pulling the frame in one direction; ayieldingly anchored cable for pulling the frame in the oppositedirection, a power driven eccentric for tensioning and slacking off saidcables, and in a sprin that cooperates with the positively anchoreccable to move the frame in the direction of the progressive movementbeyond the throw of the eccentric so that the yieldin gly anchored cablewill pull the frame back with a quick snap which will advance thematerials being treated in the desired direction.

The various features of the invention and novel combination of partswill be best understood from the following description when 1928. Serialno. 277,915.

read in connection with the drawings which illustrate forms of theinvention.

In the drawings;-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine provided with operating meansconstructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the operating mechanism of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modification of the'construction of Fig,1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a second modified form of operating means;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the operating mechanism of Fig. 1, thevibratory frame being omitted; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the nature of the movementimparted to the vibratory frame.

The novel mechanism of thepresent invention for developing a progressivevibratory movement may be employed forvarious purposes and is shown inthe drawings as adapted to impart progressive vibratory movement to aframe 10 which frame may constitute a con centrator deck, screen orother form of separator employing a progressive vibratory movement toadvance the materials being treated lengthwise of the frame 10.

Any appropriate means may be employed for supporting the frame 10 forvibratory movement in the direction of its length and this frame isshown in the drawings as mounted upon a casing or supporting structurehaving the uprights 11 to which the longitudinally extending beams 12are secured and the uprights 11 are connected by the transverselyextending braces 13. Upon the supporting structure are mounted thebearing blocks 14 which in the present case are shown as having ballreceiving grooves or recesses formed in their upper faces to receive theballs or rollers 15 adapted to support similarly constructed bearingblocks 16 secured to the under face of the frame or carriage 10, theconstruction being such that the frame 10 is supported for vibratorymovement in the direction; of its length.

The mechanism forming the subject matter of the present invention forimparting a pr0- gressive vibratory movement to the frame 10 will now bedescribed, and in the construction shown consistsof a cable 17 one endof which is rigidly secured to a block 18 or other form of fasteningmeans attached to the under face accompanying good practical length ofthe cable 17.

of the vibratory frame 10. The cable 17 extends in'a right-handdirection, in the construction shown, about an idle grooved sheave 19which is rotatably supported by a transversely extending shaft 20 thatis mountedupon the, casing or supporting structure. The cable 17 extendsfrom the lower side of the sheave 19 about a groovedsheave 21 which isjournaled upon an eccentric 22 which eccentric is rigidly secured to thetransversely extending power shaft 23. This power shaft 1s Journaled 1nbearlngs 24 mounted upon the supporting structure and the shaft may berotated by a pulley 25.

I tension and slacken off. the cable 17, the ar- CI e rangement beingsuch that when the eccentric 22 is turnedto the position in which itisshown in Fig. 2, it will tension the cable .17topull the framelO. in aright-hand direction I Movement ofthe frame 10 in. a left-hand directionis effeeted in accordance with the present invention by a cable 29 oneend of which is secured to the transversely extendin .blOCk 18 and thecable extends in a left-ham direction from this block about a groovedidle sheave 30 which is rotatably supported by the transverselyextending shaft 31. The cable 29 extends from the lower side of thesheave 30 about a second grooved sheave 32 whichis journaled upon theeccentric 22, and theend port-ion of this cable 29 extends from theunder side of the sheave 32 to a transversely extending brace 33 towhich it is yieldingly secured, this beingaccomplished in theconstruction shown by attaching the end of the cable 29 toa threadedbolt 34 upon which a coiled'spring 35 is mounted, this spring beingconfined between a face of the transversely extending brace. 33, and theadjustable nuts 36 mounted upon the bolt 34.

,-As a result of the operating mechanism so far described the frame 10will be pulled back and fortlrwitha vibratory movementby the cables 17and 29 since the sheaves 21 and 32 mounted upon the eccentric 22 willtension one cableas the other cable is slaeked off, and the vibratorymovement imparted to the frame-1O by this form of'operating means may bemore or less progressive, depending upon thestrengthand tension of thespring 35. The. operating mechanism so far described is similar to thatshown, described .is shown in Fig. at.

and claimed in the Albert H. Stebbins Patent No. 1,598,78 dated July 27,1926, but it may be desirable to employ a more energetic progressivevibratory movement than that produced by the construction so fardescribed, and this is accomplished, in accordance with the presentinvention, by providing an auxiliary spring which will. cooperate withthe. positively anchored cable 17 to move the frame 10 moreenergetically in the direction ofthe progressive vibratory movement thanin the opposite direction. Various constructions may be providedemploying this auxiliary spring, one constructhm thereof being shown inFig. 2, a second construction being shown in Fig. 3, and still a thirdconstruction The construction disis quite simple and. will be closed in3 first considered.

The auxiliary spring 37 shown in Fig. 3 is mounted so that one end olthis coiled spring rests against a block or flanged plate 38 rigidlysecured to the under face of the frame, 10 and the opposite end of thisspring abuts against a socket plate 39 which is accurcd to a rod or bolt40 and this bolt is adjnstably mounted in a liu'acket ll which isrigidly secured to the supporting casing. Since an eccentric 22 isemployed to tension and slack-oil the operating cables 17 and 29 themovement imparted to tho frame ll) will gradually increase from one endof its stroke to its central position and then gradually dccrease fromits central. portion to the opposite end of its stroke and the turn atthe ends of the stroke will be relatively slow and smooth, unless suchturn is moditicd by springs or other operating mechanism. As the cable17 has its ends non-yieldably secured to the block 18 and anchoringdevices 26 this cable will limit the movement of the frame 10 in theleft-hand direction to the configuration ol' the operating eccentric,and as the frame 10 reaches the end of its stroke the change indirection will be relatively smooth, due to the fact that the eccentric22 at this instant is passing through the dead centre. position in whichit is shown in Fig. 3.

e As the frame 10 a] )proaches the end of its stroke in aright-handdirection it is desirable to impart a snap or quick reversal of thedirection of movement to the frame, to thereby advance the materialsbeing treated lengthwise of the frame 10 in a right-hand direction. Thisis accomplished by providing the auxiliary spring 37 which COOPGIMQSwith the positively anchored :able 17 to increase the speed at which theframe 10 is moved in a right-hand direction, and as a result theincreased momentum of the frame 10 in this direction will carry theframe son'icwhat beyond the normal end of its stroke in the right-handdirection. This additional movement will be permitted by the spring 35which constitutes a yielding anchor for the cable 29. This additionalmovement, however, will place the spring under abnormal tension withtheresult that this spring acting through the cable 29 will serve to jerkthe frame 10- backwiu'd quickly in the left-hand direction,thereby'iinparting the desired snap or quick turn to the frame 10 toadvance the materials lengthwise of the frame in a right-hand direction.

The operation of the mechanism just de scribed will be more clearlyunderstood upon reference to Fig. (5. in which this form of movement isillustrated diagrammatically.

In Fig. 6 the power shaft 23 is shown as having the eccentric 22 andupon this eccentric is mounted the grooved sheave 21.

It is apparent that if the auxiliary spring 37 andthe spring foryieldingly anchoring the cable 29 to thesupporting structure wereomitted from Fig. 3, then a non-progressive movement would beimpartedto. the frame 10 and the nature of this movement would be indicated bythe circle 12 of Fig. 6 and the change in} the speed of movementimparted to the frame 10 at successive intervals in its path of travelwould be indicated by the vertical lines 43. Through the employment ofthe springs 35 and 37 whereby the momentum of the frame 10 in aright-handdirection is in creased, the frame will move beyond" the throwof the eccentric in this direction, as indicated by the curve as andwill then be snapped back quickly at'the end of its stroke as indicatedby the short, steep curve 45, and at this instant the desiredprogressive move ment will be imparted to the materials being treatedupon the frame 10.

In Fig. 2 the auxiliary spring 46, instead of being arranged the same asthe spring 37 of Fig. 3, is attached to the lower end of a third cable47 which cable, as will be apparent from F 2, passes around a thirdsheave 48 mounted upon the eccentric 22 and then about a second sheave19 upon the shaft 20, and the upper end of this cable is rigidly securedto the block 18. The effect of this arrangement will be the same as thatof the spring 37 of Fig. 3 since the spring 46 will act upon the cable47 to speed up the movement of the frame 10 in a right-hand direction,to produce the desired quick turn at the end of the stroke in thisdirection as above described.

This same result may be secured by the third. arrangement of theauxiliary spring shown in Fig. l, wherein the spring 50 is positioned toexert an upward force upon the shaft or bolt 51; this spring beingconfined between a transversely extending brace 52 and adjustable nuts53 provided upon the bolt 51. The lower end of the bolt 51 is providedwith a hollow block 54 through which the lower portion of the positivelyanchored cable 17 extends, as will be apparent from Fig. 4. The effectof this arrangement is that the spring 50 will exert a continuous pullupon the lower horizontally extending upward portion of the cable 17 tddisplace this portion of the cable upwardly. This upward pull will serveto speed. up the movement of the frame 10inaright-hand" direction whichas above pointed out is desired to impart the quick turn to the frame 10at the right-hand endofits stroke.

The auxiliary spring in each case obviously should be of less strengththan; the anchoring spring 35, for otherwse the spring 35 would fail topull the frame 10in. a left-hand direction with sufiici'ent force tokeep the positively anchored cable 17 taut. If the frame 10 beingoperated is relatively heavy additional cables may obviously be providedto-rclieve the cables 17, 2,9 and 17 from excessive strains.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the present invention isextremely simple in construction, and that the mechanism employed isstrong and durable and is not likely to be injured by the dirt and dustwhich com monly attends separating operations.

that is claimed is z 1. In combination with a frame supported forvibratory movement, operating means for imparting progressive vibratorymove ment to the frame, comprising an eccentric shaft, a sheave mountedupon the eccentric, a cable extending around one side of the sheave andhaving one end anchored and its other end secured to the vibratory.frame, a second cable extending around the opposite side of the sheaveand having one end secured to said frame and its other end secured to ayielding anchor, means for rotating said eccentric, and an auxiliaryspring arranged to increase the velocity of the movement of said framein a direction to momentarily extend said yielding anchor as the framereaches the end of its stroke in the direction of the progressivemovement.

2. In combination with a frame supported for vibratory movement,operating means for imparting progressive vibratory movement to theframe, comprising a positively anchored cable for pulling the frame inone direction, a yieldingly anchored cable for pulling the frame in theopposite direction, a power driven eccentric for alternately ten sioningand slacking off said cables, and an auxiliary spring for increasing thevelocity of the movement of the frame in a direction to momentarilyincrease the pull upon said yieldingly anchored cable as the framereaches the end of its stroke in one direction.

3. In combination with a frame supported for vibratory movement,operating means for imparting progressive vibratory movement to theframe, comprising a positively anchored cable for pulling the frame inone direction, a yieldingly anchored cable for pulling the frame in theopposite direction, a power driven eccentric for alternately tensioningand slacking off said cables, and an auxiliary spring arranged tocooperate with direction, a yieldingly anchored cable for pulling theframe in the opposite direction, a power driven eccentric foralternately pulling the cables back and forth to move the frame along apath corresponding to the throw of said eccentric, and an auxiliaryspring adapted to' cooperate with saidpositively anchored cable to movethe frame in the direction of the progressive movement beyond the throwof said eccentric to cause the yieldingly, anchored cable to pull theframe back with a quick s'na 5. .In combination with a flame supportedfor vibratory movement,'operating means for imparting progressive,vibratory movement to the frame, comprising an eccentric, a cableextending around one side of the ec centric and having one end anchoredand its other end secured to the vibratory frame, a secondcablefextending around the opposite side of the eccentric and having oneend secured to said frame and its other end secured to a yieldinganchor, means for rotating the eccentric to move the frame along a pathcorresponding to the throw of said eccentric, and an auxiliary springarranged to cooperate with said positively anchored cable to move theframe in the direction of the progressive movement beyond the throw ofsaid eccentric to cause the yieldingly anchored cable to pull the frameback with a quick movement.

6. In combination with a frame supported for vibratory movement,operating means for imparting progressive vibratory movement to theframe, comprising an eccentric, a cable extending around one side of theeccentric and having one end anchored and its other end secured to thevibratory f'ame, a second cable extending around the opposite side ofthe eccentric and having one end secured to said frame and its other endsecured to a yielding anchor, means for rotating the eccentric toactuate the cables to pull the frame back and forth, and a third cableextending around said eccentric and provided with a spring that actsupon the frame to increase its travel in the direction of theprogre'ssive movement.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ALBERT H. STEBBINS.

